Five poised to be FPR teams in 2015

Michael Hickey/Getty ImagesWisconsin's Gary Anderson has won 25 of his last 32 games as a head coach.

As we count down 50 days until the start of the 2014 college football season, ESPN Insider Travis Haney is answering at least one big question a day until South Carolina and Texas A&M’s kickoff on Aug. 28.

The Badgers missed the top 25 by a decimal point. They won nine games last season and went to the Capital One Bowl in Gary Andersen's first season as head coach. So it's not as if they had fallen far after Bret Bielema took the program to three consecutive Rose Bowls.

I expect the Badgers to rise, particularly after a spring visit with the engaging and honest Andersen. He seems to be a perfect philosophical fit in Madison, where a strong running game and defense have long been central to success.

Another member of our five-man FPR panel, Mark Schlabach, agreed with me, saying the Badgers would have been in his top 25.

The central question is recruiting, a category in which Wisconsin received a 5.8 rating on our 10-point scale. Andersen admitted to me that it's been something that he and his staff have had to adjust to since coming over from the Utah State Aggies. Still, they found and developed talent in Logan, Utah, so it stands to reason they'll be able to succeed with the additional resources and support offered at Wisconsin.

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider

Insider

ABOUT THIS BLOG

Travis Haney

Travis Haney joined ESPN in April 2012 as Insider's national college football writer. He previously covered the University of Oklahoma Sooners for The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman for one season, and the University of South Carolina Gamecocks for The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier for four. Additionally, Haney has contributed since 2003 to ESPN publications and projects, including ESPN The Magazine.

A native of Cleveland, Tenn., Haney's initial introduction to a college football cathedral was Neyland Stadium. He later graduated from the University of Tennessee, in 2003, and has spent time covering the Volunteers, the University of Georgia, Clemson University, and other schools. Safe to say, football, and football in the South, was injected into his bloodstream at a young age.

Haney is the author of three books -- Gamecock Glory and Gamecock Encore, which chronicled the South Carolina baseball team's run to the 2010 and 2011 national championships, and State of Disunion, a historical look at the Clemson-South Carolina football rivalry that he co-wrote with Larry Williams.